Nearly 56,000 residents, or about 40% of Gainesville, lost power during the peak of Hurricane Helene.
It was an unusual occurrence for a city far enough inland to typically miss widespread storm impact. For reference, about 12,000 lost power during Hurricane Debby, the last to hit Gainesville, in August.
The storm slammed Florida’s west coast late Thursday as a major Category 4 hurricane, bringing 140 mph winds and storm surges of up to 9 feet in coastal areas, including Cedar Key.
Gainesville faced 60 mph winds that damaged power lines and toppled trees, but there were no major injuries reported. Over 50 deaths were recorded from Hurricane Helene as of Friday afternoon, 11 of which were in Florida.
The city saw just 0.58 inches of rain Thursday. By comparison, the city saw over 6 inches of rain when Hurricane Irma hit the state as a Category 5 storm in August 2017.
Power outages across city
Gainesville Regional Utility outages decreased to about 46,500, or about one-third of all Gainesville residents, by 6:15 a.m. Friday. About 10,000 people in the city still don’t have power as of 11 a.m. Saturday.
Ninety-two people spent Thursday night in shelters, the city reported. Alachua County opened two pet-friendly general population shelters and a special needs shelter in anticipation of the storm.
GRU crews are working to restore power to those who lost it, the company said in an email Friday morning.
“We are still assessing the full extent of the damage,” the email said. “We’re working on restoring power to those lines in addition to several wires down and multiple other outages.”
Hurricane Helene took out two transmission lines, which GRU called “unusual” in social media posts. A transmission line carries electricity from a power source to homes and businesses.
The company reported one of the lines had been repaired Friday afternoon. The other is still being addressed.
Once both are repaired, lineworkers can focus on neighborhoods and businesses, GRU said.
Mary Kate Hitpas and Abby Rindt, 22-year old UF physical therapy Ph.D. students and roommates, said their power went out around 9 p.m. Thursday night and returned by the following evening.
The two live in an apartment off Southwest 13th Street but spent the day bouncing between various Gainesville coffee shops, where they used WiFi to study for an upcoming exam.
“We were studying by candlelight last night,” said Hitpas from a Starbucks table strewn with empty coffee cups and sandwich wrappers.
Lines for the Starbucks off the corner of 13th Street and University Avenue, as well as the deli at the adjacent Publix, extended out the door the majority of the day Friday as Gainesville residents clamored for access to charging outlets and hot food.
Many of the apartments that lost power, including Looking Glass Apartments, The Quad and College Park Apartments, were located in Midtown. The lights for all local bars in that area, including JJ’s Tavern and Salty Dog Saloon, also went dark Thursday.
Outages also stretched across Gainesville, from Hidden Village Apartments in the southwest corner of the city to the Santa Fe Oaks complex near the community college in the northwest.
GRU also asked Gainesville residents to cut back on water use after several wastewater lift stations lost power. These stations pump wastewater through treatment plants, re-supplying local waterways.
The company is unsure when full power and running water will be restored.
Other than some damaged vehicles and trees, the city wasn’t affected too badly, said Lauren Sultemeier, a 43-year-old American Medical Response employee from Buffalo, New York.
“Gainesville was very lucky and spared,” Sultemeier said.
Sultemeier and fellow responder Lauren Stubblefield, 48, who works for Vicksburg Fire Department in Vicksburg, Mississippi, found out Monday they were being deployed cross-country by FEMA to assist in hurricane relief.
They expect to be relocated soon from their base in Gainesville off Eighth Street to elsewhere in the state or region where more damage was reported, Sultemeier said.
Fallen trees impact roadways, UF campus
Fallen trees caused much of the power line damage in a city designated as a “Tree City” for over 40 years.
Norman Education Library's beloved grand oak tree was among the fallen.
The oak, which had been growing in the courtyard of the UF College of Education at Norman Hall since 1932, split in three as a result of Helene’s strong winds.
“This is truly a huge loss for the EduGator community,” the College of Education said in a statement Friday.
Over 50 roadways were also reported blocked by downed trees following the storm Thursday night. Road blockages and outed traffic lights combined for dangerous driving conditions throughout Friday. In Alachua County, 169 traffic lights went out following the storm.
While the hurricane has passed, its effects haven’t. GRU urges residents to continue to practice hurricane safety measures.
“Do NOT approach downed power lines or trees on wires, safely leave the area and report it immediately,” GRU wrote Friday on X.
Gainesville Regional Airport closed Thursday evening but reopened Friday. Six departing flights were canceled Thursday, 37% of the total scheduled for that day.
Some students say UF delayed closure
UF said in an email to students midday Wednesday that classes would be canceled on Thursday but resume Friday at 7 a.m.
The university waited until 5 p.m. Thursday to cancel classes and close campus on Friday. Some families said the announcement came too late for students to travel to be with their parents elsewhere in Florida during the storm. Many had exams or assignments scheduled for Friday they didn’t think would be canceled.
While he didn’t lose power at his East Hall dorm, Dylan Byerly, a 22-year-old UF electrical engineering senior, extended sympathies for students who wished to evacuate but couldn’t due to UF’s late announcement.
“It really hurt a lot of students’ chances to evacuate,” he said. “If they had just canceled the day before, like all the other colleges in the state, it would have probably helped students who did plan on evacuating to leave earlier.”
Florida State University announced on Tuesday that campus would close Wednesday through Friday after the storm was originally forecast to slam Tallahassee. The city ended up avoiding the worst of the storm’s winds as its path veered east.
Also in Gainesville, both Santa Fe College and the Alachua County Public School System announced Wednesday they would remain closed Thursday and Friday. They plan to resume normal operations Monday.
However, PK Yonge, the K-12 developmental school run by the university, and Baby Gator, the preschool serving children of staff, followed the UF main campus’ lead in canceling Thursday.
Following Hurricane Helene’s path through Florida, UF President Kent Fuchs sent his warm regards to students and all those affected in an email Friday afternoon. He also said the university would resume normal operations Saturday in the announcement, signed simply as from “Kent.”
“It is clear that our neighbors across the state are enduring significant damage and hardships,” he wrote. “My prayers and deepest sympathies are with them.”
Contact Kairi Lowery at klowery@alligator.org. Follow her on X @kairiloweryy.
Contact Zoey Thomas at zthomas@alligator.org. Follow her on X @zoeythomas39.
Zoey Thomas is a media production junior and the Fall 2024 Enterprise Health Reporter for The Alligator. She previously worked on the University and Metro desks. Her most prized assets include her espresso machine, Regal Unlimited movie pass and HOKA running shoes.
Kairi Lowery is a third-year journalism major and a metro general assignment reporter for The Alligator. When she's not writing you can find her lounging on the beach with a book or collecting vinyls.
